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Going on Holiday? How to Keep Your Home Safe

One of the most effective ways you can keep your home insurance premiums low is to limit your claims made history. While you are out of town there is truly no substitute for having a trusted family member, friend, or neighbour consistently checking your home.

Having someone check on your home while you are away has many benefits. They can save you the hassle of stopping the mail, your newspaper & flyers delivery. They can shovel your driveway or sidewalk in winter, or in summer mow and water the lawn. They essentially make it look like you’re still there, which will deter burglars. A temporary caretaker can also detect, and stop, a burgeoning problem, such as a leaking water from any fixtures attached to water line e.g. hot water tank, water dispensing fridge, washer, toilets etc.

Low Tech Help

It is often difficult to find someone who will take the time to properly look after your home. In these cases, you’ll want to make sure that your home doesn’t betray the fact that you are gone. Definitely stop your mail and paper delivery. Do not announce on social media that you will be away. If you have any deliveries that will arrive, redirect the delivery to someone you trust and let that person know when to expect the package.

Turn off the main water supply to your house if it is not supplying an automatic sprinkler system. If you need to keep the water on, consider turning it off locally at the toilets, sinks, washing machine, dishwasher and the like to prevent leaking water damaging your unattended home.

More housekeeping items to take care of are:

Make sure all of the locks are in working order on every door and window.

Check all of your exterior lights are functioning properly and make sure that any motion sensors are both working properly and oriented to pick up motion where you want them to.

If your exterior light are not photosensitive and turn themselves off at daylight, you should consider investing in a programmable electrical timer

Consider affordable Internet connected wi-fi security cameras.

Go High Tech With Your Home Security Options

The traditional no expense spared approach to home security while you are away remains a centrally monitored alarm system. The usual difficulty with these systems have been false alarms which generate unnecessary security or police response, resulting in bills or even municipal warnings and fines in extreme cases. Fortunately, the alarm systems found today are generally much better than those of yesteryear in preventing false alarms. For instance, instead of using physical circuit contacts on doors and windows, which were susceptible to creating false positives from the house expanding and contracting with the temperature, many of today’s systems depend upon sonic or even thermal signature technology to determine whether an intruder is present.